README.md

BCR Arm

bcr_arm_showcase.mp4

About

This repository contains a Gazebo Fortress simulation for a 7-DOF robotic arm. It includes ROS2 Control integration and MoveIt for motion planning. Currently, the project supports:

1. ROS2 Humble + Gazebo Fortress (Ubuntu 22.04)
2. ROS2 Jazzy + Gazebo Harmonic (Ubuntu 24.04)
3. Nvidia Isaac Sim

Humble + Fortress (Ubuntu 22.04)

Dependencies

Ensure you have ROS2 Humble and Gazebo Fortress installed.

# Install ROS2 Humble (if not already installed)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-desktop
# Install Gazebo Fortress
sudo apt install -y gz-fortress

Other dependencies can be installed using rosdep (from the root directory of your workspace):

# From the root directory of your workspace (e.g., ~/bcr_ws)
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

Source Build

# From the root of your workspace
colcon build --symlink-install

# Source the workspace
source install/setup.bash

Binary Install

# To install bcr arm binary run
sudo apt-get install ros-humble-bcr-arm

Launch Files

1. Gazebo Simulation with ROS2 Control and MoveIt2 Motion Planning

To launch the Gazebo simulation with ROS2 Control and MoveIt2 for motion planning, use the following command:

ros2 launch bcr_arm_moveit_config bcr_arm_moveit_gazebo.launch.py 

2. Gazebo Simulation with ROS2 Control

This is the primary launch file to bring up the full simulation environment.

ros2 launch bcr_arm_gazebo bcr_arm.gazebo.launch.py

• This uses ROS2 mock controllers for the arm. Use scripts from bcr_arm_gazebo to send commands to the arm.
• Supports launch argument: world_path:=<path_to_world>

Jazzy + Harmonic (Ubuntu 24.04)

Dependencies

Ensure you have ROS2 Jazzy and Gazebo Harmonic installed.

# Install ROS2 jazzy (if not already installed)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ros-jazzy-desktop
# Install Gazebo Harmonic
sudo apt install -y gz-harmonic

Build topic_based_ros2_control from source (need to build from source for jazzy, to use Moveit with Isaac Sim):

git clone https://github.com/PickNikRobotics/topic_based_ros2_control.git
cd topic_based_ros2_control
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
colcon build --symlink-install --event-handlers log-
source install/setup.bash

Other dependencies can be installed using rosdep (from the root directory of your workspace):

# From the root directory of your workspace (e.g., ~/bcr_ws)
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

Build the project:

# From the root of your workspace
colcon build --symlink-install

# Source the workspace
source install/setup.bash

Launch Files

1. Gazebo Simulation with ROS2 Control and MoveIt2 Motion Planning

To launch the Gazebo simulation with ROS2 Control and MoveIt2 for motion planning, use the following command:

ros2 launch bcr_arm_moveit_config bcr_arm_moveit_gazebo.launch.py 

2. Gazebo Simulation with ROS2 Control

This is the primary launch file to bring up the full simulation environment.

ros2 launch bcr_arm_gazebo bcr_arm.gazebo.launch.py

• This uses ROS2 mock controllers for the arm. Use scripts from bcr_arm_gazebo to send commands to the arm.
• Supports launch argument: world_path:=<path_to_world>

Nvidia Isaac Sim

Dependencies

Ensure you have Nvidia Isaac Sim installed.

• Download the Isaac Sim SDK from here
• Install the SDK
• Launch Isaac Sim (.~/isaacsim/isaac-sim.sh) and load the bcr_arm usd

Launch

To launch Isaac Sim and use Moveit for motion planning and control.

To launch the robot in Isaac Sim:

• Add in extra viewports for different camera views.
• Start the Simulation: Run the simulation directly within Isaac Sim.

To view and launch moveit:

ros2 launch bcr_arm_moveit_config isaac_demo.launch.py

Controlling the Arm

Once the simulation with controllers is running (e.g., via bcr_arm.gazebo.launch.py), you can send commands.

Using the CLI Script:

A Python script is provided to send predefined or custom joint goals.

# Ensure your workspace is sourced
# ros2 run bcr_arm_gazebo test_arm_movement.py
ros2 run bcr_arm_gazebo control_arm_cli.py

Follow the on-screen prompts to select poses or enter custom joint angles.

Images